


Swanparents

by Blue_Sparkle



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Supernatural Parenthood, mild anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28294947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: Aziraphale wakes up with both Crowley and their baby daughter gone. The demon meanwhile figured out a new unconventional parenting skill.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	Swanparents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DieRothaarigeFrau](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieRothaarigeFrau/gifts).
  * A translation of [Schwaneneltern](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/730908) by DieRotHaarigeFrau. 



> This work is a translation from German. The original is here
> 
> https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/5fd0d423000838032c82f56f/1/Schwaneneltern

The sun was already shining through the dusty curtains as Aziraphale opened his eyes. He blinked, confused, a state he found himself in often after he’d slept. This wasn’t something he did often and he could never get the hang of telling how much time had passed. This time he knew where he was and what he was supposed to be doing rather quickly. Just as quickly as he knew that something wasn’t quite as it should be. Carefully he reached out around himself, but could find anything but the already cold mattress by his side. Neither the deep steady breathing of his demon, nor the tiny puffs of their daughter were audible. 

With a start Aziraphale sat up and looked around the room.

Was something wrong? Did something happen to Cherub that forced Crowley to act fast? Or had the baby simply woken up earlier, leading to the demon taking her outside to grant Aziraphale a little more time to rest?

“Deep breaths, Aziraphale, don’t go losing your mind-”

He pressed thumb and forefinger to the spot between his eyebrows and took a deep breath. 

Fear had become a constant companion, as of late. Where before he’d lived in constant anxiety leading up to the almost-Apocalypse, worrying that someone might discover what he truly felt for his “Adversary” Crowley, this now had been replaced with fretting over little Cherub. Hormones really weren’t for Aziraphale, he had discovered, yet he would not have changed it for a thing. Not a single second, not a single moment. Not the fear or the pain, but most certainly not the love. 

Of course Aziraphale had loved before, he was an angel after all. It was simply in his nature. At first he had just loved God, and his fellow angels. Then God’s creations on Earth. That had been an innocent love. Pure, and just how an angel was supposed to love things. Later Crowley had stepped into his life and everything changed. He’d tried in vain to talk himself into believing that the love he felt for the demon was exactly the same as the love he felt for everything else anyway. But of course that had been a lie. His love for Crowley had been different. Deeper and burning. It brought desire and quiet sighs in unobserved moments. And eventually… well, eventually Cherub had been born and completely overrode anything Aziraphale had ever thought he knew about love. 

All the fear and the pain had been forgotten as Crowled had laid her in his arms. Aziraphale would never forget that moment… Not all of the remaining time on Earth would be enough to erase that sight from his memory. Crowley, his golden eyes full of tears and his trembling voice that barely cut through the exhausted fog of Aziraphale’s mind. 

“It’s a little girl… oh God, Aziraphale, look at that… she has _wings_!”

And he had seen them. She had his light hair and Crowley’s freckled complexion and she had been breathtakingly beautiful. And there it had suddenly been, this new kind of love. It had overwhelmed him and taken his breath away. In that moment Aziraphale would have done anything for her. Die, kill, give up the world. He had taken their daughter into his arms and had sworn that he would never leave her alone. 

And now she wasn’t there. 

Aziraphale rose from the bed on unsteady legs, nearly tripping over the cute little doll Anathema had gifted them for the little one’s birth. He snapped his fingers while walking, immediately clad in his regular outfit at the motion. The floorboards of the cottage creaked quietly as he took the steps downstairs, but otherwise everything was quiet. That too, was unusual, ever since a baby had started living in the house. Normally one could always hear noises from her, or one of her parents. And sometimes these noises were, just as they had been that night, loud wailing. 

Cherub had cried and cried and it had pained the angel physically not to be able to help her. As neither of her parents had known what she needed, they couldn’t even miracle up something to soothe her. Aziraphale had run his hands through his hair until his blond curls were a mess, and Crowley had played her his favourite “best of Queen” CD, but nothing had helped. Just as both were sure they were about to lose their minds from worry over their little baby, Cherub had let out a loud fart, smacked her lips happily, and immediately fell asleep. Just like that, completely unfazed by her parents stunned expressions. They had laughed quietly then, laid the little one on the bed between them, and had exhaustedly fallen asleep. At least Aziraphale had. 

Had Crowley fallen asleep as well? And where, in the Lord’s name, had the two gone?

Aziraphale moved through the house, looking in the kitchen, the living room that looked more like a library, Cherub’s own room… Nothing. 

In the end Aziraphale even opened the backdoor to check the garden, and was surprised to find Crowley, who was pruning the roses while whistling a quiet tune. He was still wearing his silk pyjama bottoms, but had put on a simple dark shirt on top. His feet were bare, his red hair still ruffled from lying down and also… how odd. 

On Crowley’s narrow back a pair of massive black wings was gently swaying back and forth with his motions. Aziraphale wondered at it. Of course they didn’t need to worry about unwanted eyes on them here, on their own property, but they had preened each other’s wings just days ago, and there wasn’t really any reason for Crowley to display them like this now. Perhaps he just wanted to be a little dramatic, Aziraphale thought, and took several quick steps towards him. 

“Crowley!” he called out, unsure of what his feelings were doing. Cherub was still nowhere to be found. 

The demon looked up and smiled. He had dark circles under his eyes, but he looked happy. 

“Where is…” Aziraphale started, but Crowley stopped him with a finger on his lips. 

“Don’t be so loud, angel, you’ll wake her.”

Aziraphale looked around, still not seeing Cherub. 

“Where in the Heaven is she, Crowley?” he whispered urgently. “I nearly had a stroke when I woke, and neither of you was there.”

“Well, that wouldn’t really harm you though, would it?”

“Crowley!”

Aziraphale’s voice now carried a warning in it. Every time Crowley put on that snappy tone of voice, he had done something wrong or was in a huff about something. 

Crowley looked slightly past,,, him and scratched at his neck sheepishly. 

“Alright, before I tell you where, you have to promise not to get mad.”

Aziraphale didn’t deign to reply with more than a raised brow. Crowley briefly admired Aziraphale’s ability to look down on him despite being a little shorter, then raised his hands in surrender. 

“Alright alright. I saw this show on the telly the other day, and then the little one was about to start fussing again this morning, so I just…”

He turned around very slowly, and showed the backside of his wings to Aziraphale. At first the angel started at them, then his eyes widened. For a brief moment he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry, or whether he should get mad at the ridiculous idea. He decided on the first option, as Cherub looked quite pleased where she was. 

The little girl was nestled between Crowley’s wings. The black feathers cradled the little body and only exposed her sleeping face. The flowing motions of the working demon gently swayed her, and the thick downy feathers kept the baby warm.

“What - by all that is holy - kind of show was this, Crowley?” Aziraphale managed to choke out between giggles, hands pressed to his mouth. He didn’t watch TV often, but he hadn’t gotten the impression that supernatural parenthood was a common topic on any channel. 

Crowley turned back around and pouted. 

“How great, you think it’s funny. If you really want to know, it was about swans.”

“Swans?”

Aziraphale looked at Crowley doubtfully. Usually he watched a combination of trashy television (to let the noise dull his mind), biblically inspired movies (to laugh at the things they’d get wrong), or bloody slasher films (“Oh look, angel! A chainsaw! That’s a classic. Damn, but weren't the hellish dungeon masters happy about that invention.”)

“Yes, swans. There was a documentary about them, and other than this only a rerun of ‘My Bloody Valentine’ was on…”

“Charming.”

Crowley ignored the jab and quickly kept talking. 

“First of all I’ve seen that way too many times, and also Cherub was with me.”

“Ah yes, so it was swans instead of blood and gore. How wonderful. So what does this have to do with your wings?”

“Well, swans carry their young that way and those little buggers looked really content like this, so I thought…”

“So you thought, what works for chicks can’t be wrong for a demon-angel baby.”

The angel crossed his arms and the demon just shrugged helplessly. 

“Yeah?”

Aziraphale could hear the question in this, so he threw one more look at their daughter, before glancing back at Crowley. He let his arms drop to his sides and smiled. 

“Just let me know next time you take her along. I was worrying about you two!”

He ran a hand over Crowley’s arm soothingly, and then pressed a firm kiss to his lips. Then Aziraphale straightened up, tilted his chin up, and turned to walk off again. 

“I shall go and have breakfast now. Do you want to come along, or shall I throw some breadcrumbs at your feet later?”

He smiled innocently as Crowley flushed. 

“Haha. Just a coffee for me, please.”

“That can be arranged.”

It didn’t take long for Crowley’s unusual idea to take hold with the both of them, and Cherub seemed more than fond as well. Sometimes they would carry their child that way when she was awake as well, letting the little girl play with black and white feathers. They didn’t bring up the swan thing again, but couldn’t help but smile each time they encountered the birds. What marvelous behaviours this world contained. And who knew what kinds were still in store for the two and their family.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a super cute gift to me and Gam, based on art of Crowley, Aziraphale, and Gam's character Cherub. I couldn't help but want to translate it as well!
> 
> You can find Gam here:  
> https://twitter.com/mdl_oba?s=09


End file.
